WGYWKY
by Unknowner
Summary: Naota's tried to move on, but his past keeps coming back to haunt him... CHAPTER 6 FINALLY UP! REJOICE!
1. Nothing Ever Happens

WGYWKY  
  
By the Unknowner  
  
(A Brief note: Studio Gainax owns FLCL. I do not. This sequel has been transcribed without their knowledge, consent, or certificate of Mother-May-I. Nyeah.)  
  
00000001  
  
Nothing Ever Changes...  
  
BZZZZT.  
  
BZZZZT.  
  
BZZZZT.  
  
BZZ-- KWhANGGGG!  
  
While the sound of a twenty-yen alarm clock being smashed by a Rickenbacker bass   
  
guitar may be alien to most households, Naota had long since made it a part of his routine.  
  
The guitar was none the worse for the abuse - the titanium casing made it almost indestructable -   
  
but the alarm clocks were consistently demolished. Of course, that was why he had aranged to buy  
  
the crappy little pieces of plastic by the crate... they made an excellent target for his early-  
  
morning pre-coffee grumpiness.   
  
Sipping his java, the scraggly-haired teenager glanced over the wrinkled piece of   
  
notebook paper that held his daily schedule. He used the same paper for each day, and each day   
  
was invariably the same.  
  
7:30 - Wake up. Smash clock.  
  
7:45 - Coffee  
  
8:00 - Do what you gotta do  
  
4:00 - Do what you wanna do  
  
10:00 - Sleep if you're tired, don't if you're not.  
  
Eat several times when convenient.  
  
The somewhat zen outlook on life's little drudgeries had come form one of the weirdest people   
  
he'd ever met - Haruharu Haruko, self-described space pirate and generic oddball. She'd served as   
  
housekeeper for about a year before she left... taking a huge chunk of the excitement in his life   
  
with her. His grandpa had died the next month (in a screaming fireball of a car wreck, if anyone   
  
cared how), and his dad, Kamon, was touring Europe with his new book. And now... he was just a   
  
somewhat average student living with a robot thatinexplicably grew from his head. The robot, Kanchi,   
  
was sitting across from him, giving him a somewhat concerned look. This is rather hard to do when your   
  
head is a television, but he pulled it off pretty well.  
  
"I dunno, Kanchi. Just a little out of sorts." A squik-beep emitted from the robot, followed by   
  
three periods flashing across his monitor.   
  
"Look, I'm not really in the mood to elaborate." A pause, followed by a long, low boop. Naota   
  
sighed deeply.   
  
"I told you, I'm just feeling a little weird. I can't explain it. I guess it's..." He broke   
  
off, thinking. "It's the way things have been so...   
  
stagnant lately. More than usual, if that's possible... kinda the calm before the storm. Call it   
  
a hunch." Kanchi let out a series of high-toned bips,  
  
followed by a question mark scrolling briefly across his 'face'.  
  
"I dunno what to expect, that's what's throwing me. There's nothing coming up soon that could  
  
change anything in my life, so it's gonna be something completely unexpected. Random. Ya know?" The  
  
robot nodded in assent, letting out a distinct tonal pattern, then clamping his hands over his mouth  
  
in fear and embarrasment. He hadn't meant to -  
  
"Haruko..." Naota paused, glancing down at the picture of the two of them that lay beside the  
  
cheap dinette table. Kanchi "sighed".He hadn't wanted to set off THAT effect again... he thought a   
  
minute, then gave the kid a nudge, motioning to the door and beeping.  
  
"Crap, I am gonna be late... see you tonight, Kanchi." Naota paused. "And try and get out of the   
  
house once in a while! Make some friends! Geez..."  
  
It took the robot perhaps three seconds to decide that's exactly what he would do with his day.  
  
********************************************************************************  
  
Mamimi Samejima leaned out over the bridge, holding her camera out at arm's length. It really   
  
was hard to try and get the shot without gettingthe road in the corner...  
  
CLiK.  
  
But she managed. Leaning back, she checked the tiny screen on the digital camera. The sun was still   
  
high over the horizon, and the cloudsran thin and almost vertical over the deep slough that had once been a  
  
river. She smiled.   
  
"Perfect." Now, there was just one more thing to get a photo of before she could call it a day. She   
  
looked down the length of the bridge, examining the scattered group of high school students going home,   
  
already setting up the shot in her mind, then started walking towards the end. She looked down, fiddling   
  
with the camera setting, her face masked by her ballcap. The setup had to be juuust perfect. Five... four...   
  
three...  
  
"Hi, Ta-kun!"  
  
"Mamimi?!" Naota almost fell backwards as she sprang up in his face.  
  
  
  
CLiK.  
  
******************************************************************************  
  
She smiled as she lay on her back, going over the pictures she'd taken. Ta-kun's expression was the   
  
perfect endpiece for the day's entry in her album. Her eyes wandered over to where he sat, on a rock near   
  
a soggy clump of reeds. He was still very much the same... just bigger,really. "Thought you didn't like   
  
sour stuff..." Naota looked up a moment, then chugged the rest of his drink.  
  
"I've gotten used to it." He let a long silence pass. "So why did you come back, anyway?"  
  
"Aw, you've felt it too, Ta-kun."  
  
"Felt what?" Mamimi stood up and stretched.  
  
"Something big is coming. Something that's going to happen here."  
  
"Come on. Nothing ever happens here-"  
  
"Then what do you call having a robot space pirate growing out of your head?" Again, Naota lapsed into   
  
silence. That one was alwayshard to debate. "Anyway, I've always had a kind of sense for these things. Kinda   
  
psychic, you know? And I got the same feeling a few days agothat I did right before everything started... you   
  
know..." She smiled. "Something really big is happening this time, Ta-kun. Something amazing."Naota didn't   
  
respond for a while.   
  
"Where have you been, anyway?" He glanced over at his old friend. She'd changed a lot... her hair was   
  
shorter, she was more mature... she was just different from the oddball high school student he'd known.   
  
"Tokyo. Hong Kong. New York. Hog Shooter. Wherever I could find a good picture to take."  
  
"Hog Shooter?"  
  
"Actually, I only took a picture of the sign on the city limits. I thought it was kinda funny."  
  
"So... you think that you'll get some good shots here..."  
  
"When whatever happens happens, I'm gonna be right at the front lines recording it!" She giggled   
  
slightly, clicking another picture of Naota.   
  
*********************************************************************************  
  
"I'm... home." Naota stared at the scene in the living room. Motor oil was spilled over the rug,   
  
and the contents of an open toolbox were scattered across the coffee table. Kanchi waved at him, beeping   
  
happily as he gestured towards what he'd been working on - a trio of robots, lounging around the TV.   
  
"Kanchi... you... whth... huuuuh?" Naota's eyes wandered from one to the next with no apparant   
  
stability or reason. His Gamecube had been used for one's head - the one wearing the leather jacket   
  
and apparantly staring at him with its orange power light. The next one was tall, gangly, wearing a   
  
hawaiian shirt, and apparantly cracking up at the utter corniness of the old Kaiju movie. The last one   
  
was their blender - relatively unchanged, but now a pair of stubby legs spat out from under it, as well   
  
as a cartoonish set of arms. The blender shifted it's gaze from the TV - an odd motion, as it had no eyes,   
  
and whirred at Naota. It was then that he finally found the exact words for the delicate situation. "I DIDN'T   
  
MEAN LITERALLY...!"  
  
##########################################################  
  
Space.  
  
That big, blackish, inky void way up there... and to the left, and right, and pretty much in every direction,   
  
except when you're on a planet you can't see it in any direction but up. Which sucks, really. I've been stuck   
  
out here waaaaaay too long. I mean, these FTL jumps are murder on yer psyche.I'm already eight times my body's   
  
age, if that makes sense.  
  
`Course, I'm not gonna be out here much longer...  
  
I'm comin' back, Ta-kun....  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
TBC. As if you couldn't tell.  
  
http://unknowner.deviantart.com - go here for art of Kanchi's buddies. 


	2. Robots Playing Poker

WGYWKY  
  
By the Unknowner  
  
00000010: Robots Playing Poker  
  
Naota woke up with a start. The clock on his nightstand was going off,  
  
and it wasn't yet 3 A.M. That wasn't what had awoken him though - it was the   
  
fact that his lights had spontaneously turned on. And the civil defense sirens  
  
going off all over the city. And the fact that every electronic appliance   
  
nearby was going berzerk. The radio on top of his bunk bed, the computer whose  
  
components were scattered over the corner, and even his amplifier screeched in  
  
electronic cacaphony. For a few seconds, he thought his eardrums would explode.   
  
Then... it stopped. As quickly as it began, the sirens dimmed, the lights shut   
  
themselves off, and everything else quieted - except for the neighbors, who he   
  
could hear running into the streets. Naota leaned out the window, squinting at   
  
the horizon. What was that light... A shooting star....?  
  
No.  
  
VERY no.  
  
Grabbing a clean pair of pants, his jacket, and after a moment's thought,   
  
his Rickenbacker, Naota sprinted out the door, looking upwards. Half the town was   
  
probably standing in front of their houses too, staring up above the horizon. A   
  
gleaming, gold-green streak, growing brighter by the second, hung in the sky in   
  
much the same way as a seagull flying against the wind at the ocean. Within a   
  
minute it seemed half as large as the sun. Naota's eyes widened.   
  
The bridge.  
  
He didn't know how, he didn't know why - but he knew it was coming down   
  
on the bridge. Soon. He broke into a dead sprint, his mind almost blank. Why was   
  
he going to the impact point... and why the heck did he know something was...  
  
BOOOOM.  
  
With a hideous blaze of light, the object landed. Naota could already   
  
hear the sirens going off in the distance. But was he... yes, he was right. A   
  
long, pale grey shape lay entrenched in the bridge's asphalt, the ditch it plowed   
  
still hissing. As he grew closer, Naota could smell the molten tarmac. But neither   
  
that nor the heat could keep him from forging on. Closer he grew, until he could see   
  
the entirety of the thing that had crashed. It looked vaguely like a huge egg, but   
  
longer, more stretched out. As he watched, a long, thin crack blistered outward,   
  
followed by a loud snapping noise. Then the walls of the oblong rock burst outward,   
  
as a yellow Vespa motorscooter exploded from its hollow inside, landing beside him.   
  
Next was a violet Les Paul and amplifier, followed by three largish suitcases. Then   
  
the inevitable happened...  
  
Haruko Haruhara leapt from the hole in the object, landing atop her scooter   
  
as if it was the most natural thing in the world to fall from the sky. Naota gaped   
  
unabashedly. It couldn't be... could it...? She was exactly the same as he remembered -   
  
the same goofy, maddening grin, the same salmon hair, same day-glo vest...  
  
"Hey. Ta-kun."  
  
"Eyawhaba.... huuuuh?" (Oh, real smooth,) He thought to himself.  
  
"You gonna help me with my luggage or what?" Naota's jaw hit the floor. No   
  
hello? No 'Hey how are ya sorry I went into space and left you in this suffocating   
  
town'? No-  
  
WHAAAAAAAAAANG.  
  
Naota staggered backwards, clutching his head. Yep. It was Haruko - the only   
  
person in the universe with a penchant for smashing him in the head with a guitar.  
  
"Now... are you gonna help me with my luggage or not?"  
  
"After you hit me again?!"  
  
"Well, you weren't answering..."  
  
"...And now something *else* is gonna grow out of my head! I don't believe this!"  
  
"Heh. Believe it." There was a quiet 'thumpf' as Haruko swept Naota into a bear   
  
hug from behind, promptly ending his rant. "I missed ya."  
  
Naota blushed, but didn't answer. How the heck could someone be so infuriating and   
  
endearing at the same time... and how could he admit that he had almost missed getting   
  
whacked by a guitar on a daily basis?  
  
************************************************************************************  
  
CLiKCLiKCLiK...  
  
Mamimi grinned ecstatically. Genuine pics of a UFO landing... perfect!   
  
***************************************************************************************  
  
"She's back." It was a statement, not a question. Eri Ninamori poked at Naota's   
  
fresh head bandage, her expression half-dissapointed, half-sad.  
  
"Yup." He didn't see any reason to lie - the truth would out sooner or later   
  
anyway. After all, Eri could read him like a book... and Haruko was far from inconspicuous...   
  
The two lapsed into a deep silence. She was afraid of anything she said coming out completely   
  
wrong, while he was just... exhausted. Lugging suitcases inside at 3 A.M. through the back   
  
alley so the neighbors didn't find out was NOT his idea of a quiet evening. Eventually, Eri   
  
sighed and spoke.  
  
"...Why... did she come back...?"  
  
"I dunno. Everyone seems to be coming back here."  
  
"Everyone?"  
  
"Mamimi showed up yesterday..." Eri let out a small miffed noise. "Relax, I got   
  
over her ages ago."  
  
"Mamimi or Haruko?" The question was harsh and pointed, and Naota had to think a   
  
moment before he answered.  
  
"...I don't think I ever though of Haruko... in that way..."  
  
"Oh, come on!" Eri almost exploded, launching up from the bench. "After you practically   
  
declare your love to her in front of the entire world?!?"  
  
"I was young and stupid! I didn't even really know what love was... She was just... an   
  
escape."  
  
"An escape...?  
  
"From... here." He glanced down, rubbing his head as if unsure of his own thoughts.   
  
"This place... it's not just a town. It's a way of thinking... it swallows you up. Almost   
  
like you're drowning..." He sat back, eyes blank. "Let's just say that if Medical Mechanica   
  
had actually processed this world... I think everywhere on earth would be just like this place..."  
  
"...I see.." Eri slowly sat back down, leaning her head on his shoulder. "And Mamimi?"   
  
He laughed, putting his hands behind his head.  
  
"There was never anything to Mamimi and me... we just goofed off a lot."  
  
"Hm. Well, as long as there's *absolutely* nothing going on with that Vespa woman..."   
  
"Abo-frickin-loutley nothing. Cross my heart." He smiled, and after a beat, so did she.  
  
"Alright, you knucklehead. Come on, I have to rent that video for Film class... maybe  
  
we can watch it at your place tomorrow." Eri stood and began to walk away, unaware that Naota   
  
hadn't gotten up yet.  
  
"...My place..."  
  
  
  
*******************************************************************************************  
  
"HARUKO! I'm home..." Naota blinked and looked around. There was no sign of her in the  
  
kitchen... or living room... so she had to be upstairs. As he hit the top step, he felt a soft   
  
thunk on his head - the grate to the nearby air vent had somehow popped off. Leaning in, he stared  
  
at the hole, squinting into the darkness. Was that -  
  
"Wiggiwikki, Taco?" Naota nearly tumbled downstairs as a short, pigtailed blonde popped   
  
from the hole where the heat register had been.   
  
"Who - who the heck are you?" Haruko popped her head out of the upstairs bedroom door,  
  
looking over a pair of John Lennon-esque reading glasses.  
  
"Oh, Ta-kun? This is my sister... she'll be staying with us a while.  
  
"Your sister?!?"  
  
"Eeeeyup!" The blonde intruder burst from the vent, tackling Naota. She was only two-thirds  
  
his size, but between the fact that he was off-balance and surprised, he still went down. Hard.   
  
"I'm Momo and it's nice ta meetcha and I like your robots and your TV and is your name really Taco?"  
  
"Taco..? It's Ta-ku- I mean, Naota!"  
  
"Awww... I like Taco better..."  
  
"Where the heck did you come from?"  
  
"Well, rumor has it the stork brought me..." Haruko chuckled.  
  
"She was in the Vespa." Naota winced.  
  
"How the heck can you fit inside a motorscooter...?"  
  
"It's bigger on the inside than on the outside... kinda like a Winnebago."  
  
"Winnebagos don't violate the laws of physics!" Naota struggled his way to his feet, then  
  
plopped onto his bunk - noticing only a few seconds later that the sheets had been changed to a   
  
frilly pink bedspread. "AAAAK! What's this?"  
  
"Well... there's three of us, and only two bunks..."  
  
"So you comandeered my bed?"  
  
"Unless you want to sleep with one of us." Haruko grinned evilly.  
  
************************************************************************************************  
  
(Sleeping on the floor. What a disgrace...) Naota shuffled in his sleeping bag, unable to   
  
get comfortable. It was far more than the hard floor - the whole situation left a bitter taste in  
  
his mouth. Here he was, living with four robots, two alien gi-  
  
FLOP.  
  
Naota flinched as his train of thought was interrupted. Rolling over, he saw Momo - laying  
  
on the floor beside him, dangerously close, and still fast asleep. She'd rolled out of bed. Naota   
  
blinked, trying to scoot away - but she'd landed on the bag, and he was caught - worse, her floppy  
  
bedshirt was coming undone at the top! Naota clenched his eyes shut, trying not to look, or worse,   
  
to wake her up, when he heard her mumble something in her sleep.  
  
"Tmgcmmu..." His eyes opened slowly. What- "Mmm... Taaaaco..."   
  
CHOMP.  
  
************************************************************************************************  
  
Kanchi looked down at his cards, then shook his head and leaned to one side. Nothing.  
  
A pair of disgusted beeps followed as the Stereo and GC tossed in their cards, and the Blender   
  
danced and whirred happily, his straight flush displayed prominently on the tabletop.   
  
"EEEEEEEYOOOOOOOOOWWWW!"  
  
All four robot's heads swiveled towards the upstairs, then back to the center of the   
  
table. One collective shrug later, the poker game resumed.  
  
***********************************************************************************************  
  
Why did Haruko come back?  
  
How will Naota's night with Eri go?  
  
What's going to grow from his head THIS time?  
  
These are all very good questions, but will any of them be answered next time?  
  
Eh. Probably. Find out yerself.  
  
TBC... 


	3. Das Ist Der Matrix?

WGYWKY  
  
By The Unknowner  
  
(A/N: A brief "thanks" to all that reviewed - Super Purple Neko, Tsukasa Beat, Mobius   
  
Shadow, Hecate, Firebolt90001, MightyRikimaru, and even the ubiquitous "U suck", for proving   
  
once again that jealousy is a great compliment - especially if the jealous person proves his   
  
idiocity by spelling "You" as "U", putting his comment as his name, and refusing to use coherent   
  
thought, or even proper sentences. Bring it on, flameboy.)  
  
00000011: Das ist der Matrix?  
  
"Hold still..." Haruko grunted as she yanked on the flat-fronted, conical "horn", trying   
  
to pry it from Naota's skull. Normally the various devices that sprung from him would come out of   
  
their own accord, but this time... "GOT IT!" With a loud pop, the pressure in Naota's skull ended.   
  
He sat there, still flinching, unable to open his eyes for several seconds. When he did...  
  
"A lamp?"  
  
"Awww... it's kinda cute. Look, it's got little feets." Haruko giggled as she tickled the   
  
cartoonish rubber feet of the inanimate object, apparantly quite amused. Naota just stared - after   
  
all, the objects from his noggin were usually either alive or ultrapowerful. This... this was just   
  
a cheaply made desk lamp.   
  
"Why a lamp?"   
  
"Why not?"  
  
"It's just..." he paused.   
  
"Look, I hit you without any *reason* to. There was nothing trying to get out, so..." She   
  
smirked, waving the object. "What came out was just what was there." Naota just stared a moment, then   
  
slumped in his chair. "Awww... what's wrong, Ta-kun?"  
  
"Why did you come back?"  
  
"What, you don't want me here?"  
  
"It's not that..."  
  
"Look, kid. It's like I said - you're the only one whose head works right."  
  
"What about Ninamori?" A pause.  
  
"What?"  
  
"That claw thing came out of her head."  
  
"True..." Haruko stood up, stretching, and popped the fridge open, grabbing a cheap energy drink.  
  
"And that guy with the eyebrows... Amaro... he had it too, didn't he?"  
  
"A'ight! You want the truth?" Haruko whirled around, fixing her glare on Naota. "Atomsk died."  
  
"What....? What does that have-"  
  
"You were the last one to bond with him." Haruko sat down, poking Naota's forehead. "Therefore, YOU   
  
are his heir."  
  
"Heir...?"  
  
"You get his power." Haruko smirked. "That's the way life goes, innit? You chase down something your   
  
whole life long, then the scrawny kid you help get out of his rut back a few years ago gets it... O'course,   
  
that wasn't an accident." She grinned, half-madly. "Atomsk used to bond with the crew whenever he needed to,   
  
to get us outta scrapes... after he bonded with you... he never did it again... He really liked ya."  
  
"That's just crazy." Naota frowned. "Why me?"  
  
"I dunno. He just liked ya." She popped up, yawning and stretching. "Look, I gotta go, I have to pick   
  
up some stuff. Isn't your little girlfriend coming over tonight?"  
  
"...Yeah, so?" Naota flushed at Haruko's description of Eri, but didn't let his embarrasment go any further."  
  
"Well, aren'tcha gonna make dinner for her? Something a little bit romaaaaantic?"   
  
"We're watching a movie for Film class!"  
  
"Sure, you say that *now*...." Haruko trotted out the door with a grin that the Cheshire Cat himself   
  
would've been envious of.  
  
*************************************************************************  
  
"The sandy haired son of Hollywood... lost his faith in all that's good..." Momo quietly sang with the   
  
simple tune that the Gamecube plucked out. "...Closed the curtain, unplugged the clock... hung his clothes on   
  
the shower rod, though he didn't get undressed... and no he didn't seem depressed... It's funny-"  
  
"DROP THE BASS!" Naota burst into the room, red in the face. His eyes were dark and stormy, and his   
  
clenched fists shook.  
  
"Er... Taco... what's wrong...?"  
  
"It's... using... my... bass..." He forced himself into some semblance of order, pointing to the old   
  
Rickenbacker that the Cube-bot held.  
  
"So?"  
  
"NO ONE... uses... the bass... but me."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"...J... just give it back!" Naota grabbed the guitar and dashed out the door. Momo merely stared...   
  
then a grin plooped onto her face.   
  
"Cubey - grab the posse and get in the mystery machine! We have a case to solve!"  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
The tune was quiet and soulful, a deep thrumming line that ran through five chords in arpeggio before   
  
repeating. Then, after a few repetitions, the kapo went on, and the bass was strummed like a guitar on its higher   
  
strings. E minor to G to A minor...  
  
"Beautiful..."  
  
"Eh, it's not bad." The waiter looked up at Naota on the roof, then back to Momo. "You wanna order something?"  
  
"Eh - I'll have a mocha. The bots don't eat much.... although I bet the blender would like some avocado..."   
  
In reply, the tiny robot hopped up and began dancing, his motor whirring at full capacity. "Sooo... how long has he   
  
been doing this?"  
  
"Four years... maybe longer. He never asked, just went up there and started plucking one day."  
  
"Have you ever tried to stop him?"  
  
"Nah. He brings in more business than he drives off."  
  
"So... why-"  
  
"Before you ask - I have NO idea why he does it here, or why he does it at all. No one does. I'll go get   
  
your drink." The young waiter walked back inside, leaving a captive audience at the front of the Cafe.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
How will Naota's "date" with Eri Ninamori go?  
  
Why does the Blender like avocado? Does he even have taste buds?  
  
Why was Peter Frampton so brilliant live, but so mediocre in studio sessions?  
  
Will I ever stop asking rhetorical questions?  
  
TBC, of course.   
  
My apologies for the short chapter, I'm working on finals... 


	4. Enter: Night

WGYWKY  
  
By The Unknowner  
  
(A/N: Thanks again to my reviewers, and stay tuned - it may   
  
have been a slow-ish startup, but the trademark frantic pacing   
  
of FLCL picks up in this chapter. I haven't updated because I   
  
was finishing my free pen-and-paper RPG system, Nomad 99. Check   
  
it out at my website, http://unknowner.deviantart.com )  
  
00000100: Enter: Night  
  
"I am shocked, SHOCKED to find that there is gambling going on   
  
in this establishment!"  
  
"Your winnings, sir..."  
  
"Ah, thank you."  
  
Ninamori giggled and jotted the line down in her binder before   
  
popping another buttery morsel of popcorn in her mouth. Film   
  
would be her favorite class if she had a decent teacher. She   
  
suppressed a smile as she glanced at Naota and back at the screen.   
  
*Of course, it does have it's little incentives...* Remarkably, the   
  
evening had gone off quite well. Naota had insisted he make dinner   
  
for the both of them - his special Roast Beef Ramen. It was pretty   
  
good, if a little overdone, and Haruko had actually managed to stay   
  
out of their way...  
  
"A kiiisss is... just a kiss... a-"  
  
Most of the time.  
  
"SHH!" Haruko's sudden serenade came to a screeching stop as she   
  
was shushed by the two movie watchers.   
  
"Aw, c'mon. It's one of my favorite old movies."  
  
"Yeah, but it's not even at that scene."  
  
"That's what the fast-forward button's for...."  
  
"CUT IT OUT! Lemmelone...." Haruko shrugged and walked out. Naota   
  
sighed, turning back to his notes so he didn't have to look at Eri,   
  
who was grinning at him.   
  
"Well, what do you have down so far?"  
  
"I know that they say this is a great movie, and I guess it is...   
  
but the romantic angle is almost impossible. The one person you   
  
love needs your help, but to do so, you have to let them go with   
  
someone else. No one could make that kind of choice..." Eri looked   
  
down, her smile fading slightly.  
  
"You'd be surpri-"  
  
EeeeeeWHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO......  
  
Sudden silence. The civil defense siren was going off.... but...  
  
"Aw, poo. I thought they'd be at least another day or two..." Haruko   
  
pouted. Ninamori's eyes narrowed to slits.  
  
"What was *that* about....?"  
  
"Ehh.... let's just say I have a few... friends... that wanna meet   
  
Ta-kun here."  
  
"What? More weird aliens?"  
  
"...Kinda..." Haruko grinned, scratching the back of her head. With a   
  
loud "pop", all the lights shut off, a strange silence covering them.   
  
"`Cept they have a tendency to overdo their entrances...." Naota dashed   
  
to the window, staring up at the thick cloud cover, or more specifically   
  
at the great, angular shape that now pierced it. It was like a series of   
  
triangular skyscrapers, jutting out of the bottom of a massive inverted   
  
half-globe with no rhyme or reason, with a huge geodesic dome atop it. A   
  
ship. There was an alien ship landing in Mabase. And it was there for him.   
  
Naota did the only thing reasonable at the moment...   
  
He walked back into the living room and kicked the TV.  
  
"Uh... what are you doing?" Eri looked at him worriedly.  
  
"Waiting for the power to come back on."  
  
"Naota, there's a UFO landing! Could you forget the assignment for five minutes?"  
  
"A UFO landed just a few days ago. This is starting to get redundant." He   
  
shrugged. "Let's face it. Around here, aliens don't exactly count as   
  
extraordinary." Haruko gave him a death-stare, obviously deeply insulted.  
  
"These are my friends, Ta-kun. They need your help."  
  
"And why would I go help them....?"  
  
"Because I told you to." All eyes swiveled to the door, where a long,   
  
tall figure with short-cropped red hair and prosthetic eyebrows stood,   
  
arms folded. A strong breeze carried a few leaves into the open door,   
  
where they laid on the welcome mat by the feet of the man named Amaro.   
  
"On governmental order, Nandaba Naota is to accompany myself and a small   
  
BISI party to the privateer vessel Iron Maiden."  
  
"...What...?" Naota just stared. After all this time... "And since when   
  
are you allied with those stupid space pirates?"  
  
"Space pirates? What did I miss here?" Eri buried her head in her hands,   
  
suffering a severe migraine.  
  
"Well, since you destroyed the Medical Mechanica plant, we've had to make   
  
some... hard choices. It was between an alliance with Haruko's people, or   
  
fighting a war against them single handed." Amaro smiled darkly. "Not much   
  
of a choice, huh?"  
  
"...I started a war...?" Suddenly, Naota felt very, very faint...  
  
"It was coming anyway. They want Earth. Badly."  
  
"But... why?" Naota blinked.  
  
"That will be revealed soon enough. Come on, they'll have landed in just a   
  
minute. I know you're coming, Haruko.... and bring Miss Ninamori as well..."   
  
Eri gaped.  
  
"What? Why me-"  
  
"You know too much. If I let you go right now, you'd be a security risk."   
  
He glanced over at Haruko, who just nodded, one eyebrow pricked.  
  
"Yer way too on-the-ball, `Maro-chan. How long have you been planning this?"  
  
"Three years. Roughly. Now quit procrastinating."  
  
**************************************************************************  
  
Momo was already on the hilltop, as Naota expected. So was Kanchi, and the   
  
rest of the robots, adn a large media team, set up behind the police baricades.   
  
What he didn't expect was to see Mamimi.  
  
"So why are you here....?  
  
"Kanchi and I were on a date. I guess this kinda takes precedence, though." She   
  
frowned. "I still wish I had seen Frodo get to Mount Doom, though..."  
  
"Wait - you're dating a-"   
  
"Quiet." Amaro's face was unreadable, but his tone was dead serious. "They're   
  
landing." Indeed they were. The bottommost portrusion of the ship, a spire that   
  
closely resembled the Chrysler Building with a flatter top, slowly hovered about   
  
a hundred yards above them a moment, then spat out a massively long cylinder into   
  
the ground with a satisfying thud. From the side of the tube there appeared a door,   
  
and from the door, there appeared a lone figure, tall and unfathomably thin, with   
  
huge feet and forearms. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of silver lenses that   
  
appeared to stay in place without frames of any sort, and above that his salmon-  
  
colored mane dancd in the wind, making him appear like some kind of wild beast...   
  
he smiled vaguely as he approached, slinging a massive black guitar that was   
  
more like a battleaxe than a weapon from his back and dashed out a short speedmetal   
  
riff. A moment of silence followed, which he took to bow.   
  
"Os Rororos, at your service."  
  
"Captain Amaro, Bureau of Interstellar Immigration." He flashed a series of impressive   
  
looking badges, then quickly packed them back into his jacket. "I see you've decided   
  
to abide by our deal."  
  
"That has yet to be determined... Captain..." the alien turned to Haruko, his expression   
  
turning sour. "I hope for his sake you've found him, Haruko."  
  
"Of course..." Hauko's grin turned catlike, a purr more than a littel audible in her voice.   
  
"Atomsk's heir i-" Naota stepped forward, his eyes locking with Os' mirrored glasses. He   
  
spoke, cutting Haruko off mid-sentence.  
  
"I'm the one you want."  
  
"You?" Os paused, putting a hand to his chin, and slowly trotted around the youth. "You're   
  
the one that the Pirate King chose to bond with?"  
  
"Yep." A trickle of ice water ran into Naota's speech. He was getting impatient.  
  
"Hm... well, you've at least got enough common sense to bring your Axe to a formal affair.   
  
If you are the Heir... prove it." Naota hesitated a moment, then brought out the bass. The   
  
Rickenbacker 4001 series felt good in his hands, the same way it always did. Heavy. Strong.   
  
He closed his eyes and exhaled slightly.   
  
*If you're really inside me, this would be a good time to show it...*  
  
A lone power chord blazed from Naota's strings, followed by a series of low, oscillating   
  
notes. Down-down-up-up-down, updownupdownupdowndown-up-up.... the familiar tune ran by his   
  
ears, but sounded somehow... different. The strings seemed to bend more to his touch, and   
  
there was some sort of strange undertone... what was...  
  
"Stop." Os placed his hand on the guitar. "You're him. I can tell. Haruko?"  
  
"Toldja."  
  
"You also told us he'd be ready for battle. If Lord Atomsk had played a riff with that much   
  
potential power, the entire town would be gone by now. The boy's barely unlocked his gift."  
  
"His name's Naota." Eri stared at Os, eyes quietly defiant.  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"And don't talk about him like he's not here. From what I've heard, he singlehandedly took   
  
down a Medical Mechanica plant." *Whatever that is,* she added inwardly.  
  
"Yes, with our lord's power coursing through his body. Untrained, he is of little use...   
  
but..." Os smiled. "He knows of his gift... it will be a quick study." A silence. "You will   
  
all stay here tonight. We have much to cover, and only a few weeks in which to do it."   
  
"What?" Eri's face paled. "I.. I can't stay on a spaceship! I-"   
  
"You're an N/O channel, aren't you?" Eri broke off. Os was staring at her.  
  
"A What?"  
  
"You've a precious gift. Not many can turn thought into reality."  
  
"Y... you mean that... thing... that came out of my head?"  
  
"Oh, yes... we will have to train you as well..." Eri collapsed onto her knees. Mamimi was   
  
already inside the lift with Momo, chattering about something or another, and even Naota was   
  
quietly walking along. One thing slowly crept into her mind.  
  
*We should have gone to my place to watch the movie...*  
  
What IS an N/O Channel?  
  
What does Os mean by "training"?  
  
How long can five people and four robots share a spaceship suite before they go MAD?  
  
Do Klingons use Q-tips to clean out their forhead grooves?  
  
TBC. 


	5. Intermission

WGYWKY  
  
00000101: Intermission  
  
"I still think you should've told him, Raharu."  
  
"Put a sock in it." She pouted slightly, staring out the window. "You got your Atomsk replacement. Now lemme alone..."  
  
"No. I have to train him from scratch because of your negligence. It's only fair that you pay your penance."  
  
"Meaning?"  
  
"You train the girl." Silence was a rare reaction from Raharu, AKA Haruhara Haruko, but when the situation required it she could keep her mouth shut.  
  
"Yes, sir . . ." She rose and left the chamber, silent.  
  
____________________________________________________________  
  
"I tell ya, I saw `em on the news. Naota and Ninamori were both there, AND the crazy Vespa woman, AND that weird guy with the big eyebrows!" Gaku stared at the ship from behind the chain-link fence that the police had put up, eyes wide. The TV had been packed with CNN reports on the event- or rather the single report that they had, that aliens had landed, a few humans had been seen coming and going, and no, they were not the grey- skinned things from Roswell.  
  
"Look, I think that your imagination's going nuts on you. What would-" Masashi grew silent as the door opened slowly, a peculiar red-orange light oozing out. "Hey, looks like someone's coming out." As the two watched, Eri Ninamori appeared in the portal and walked towards the fence, holding a cheap book bag and looking absolutely exhausted. "Huh. I guess she was in there . . ."  
  
"NINAMORI-SAN!" Gaku shouted as she approached the perimeter and was let out by the police. "What's going on in there? Oh my gosh, don't tell me they probed you . . . was it cold? Did it hurt?"  
  
"Shut up. Nothing happened." Eri's face was blank, a dark, sullen mask, but her voice leaked frustration and anger.  
  
"Well, you apparently spent the night in an alien ship. That's something." Masashi shrugged.  
  
"Not really."  
  
"Hey . . . where's Naota?"  
  
"Getting tutored." ____________________________________________________________  
  
-Hold my breath- -As I wish for death- -Oh, please God, wake me!-  
  
The wind rushed beneath Naota as he flew down the corridor, propelled by the blaring guitar solo that played over his headphones. He grinned madly as he darted beneath the legs of a loitering technician, barely avoided an open instrument panel, and came to rest at the platform where he'd begun. He slowly removed the phones, his head spinning. That had been ~worth~ working all night for.  
  
"That . . . was . . ."  
  
"Pretty cool, wasn't it?" Os nodded. "Each song has power. Your power is to unlock and utilize the full force of music. Flight is just the tip of the iceberg, but if you ask me, it feels the best."  
  
"Can you do that? I mean-"  
  
"To a lesser extent. So can Haruko, and . . . well, almost everyone else on the ship. By the end of the week you'll be able to do it to the music in your head almost as well as the music outside it." Naota nodded.  
  
"Music is the weapon . . ."  
  
"In every sense of the word. In our society, it always has been. Have a seat." Os leaned back, eyes closing. "In the history of our planet, there have always been Bards, the wandering warriors who used music as the source of their power. They were the ones that first used the Divine Axe, what your people refer to as a Guitar." A pause. "Then came the Great Bard, the man that took fifty musicians and defeated two armies of fifty million apiece to end a war that had lasted a hundred cycles . . . after that, our people began to regard the Guitar as a source of respect, a symbol of honor. Any Rehus worth his water content carries an Axe with him at all times."  
  
"Rehus . . ." Naota let the name roll in his mouth a moment. Haruko's people.  
  
"Bingo. We'll cover more later, why don't you take a break?"  
  
"I . . . I don't want to yet." Os arced one eyebrow, a gesture that made him look startlingly like Amarao.  
  
"You're not tired?"  
  
"No. Not yet." A long pause.  
  
". . . You are full of surprises . . ."  
  
TBC. 


	6. Falling Anvils

WGYWKY  
  
A/N: AAAACKTHP! Longest... writer's block... EVER! Actually, a huge load of schoolwork didn't help things, but you get the idea. Thanks for those guys that actually waited for this chapter to surface...  
  
00000110: Falling Anvils  
  
Ninamori sighed, huddling in the coridoor beside their room, and took a long drink from the can of Rockstar. It had been one of those weeks... first that crazy alien shows up, then Naota becomes some sort of musical version of that guy from the cyber-kung-fu movie...and she discovered that she could yank stuff out of her head, an ordeal that was even worse because of that stupid Vespa woman.  
  
"Hey." Naota walked in, sitting down beside her. He was drenched in sweat, and his eyes had the kind of dark circles under them that the goth types can never get quite right with their makeup, but he seemed... almost happy.  
  
"What do you want?" It wasn't a snappy, cynical demand like it normally was - this time her voice seemed to give off a thick cloud of weariness.  
  
"Just to talk... and to find out where you got that energy drink."  
  
"I guess Os is working you pretty hard."  
  
"He's got a good reason to... I mean, I'm gonna have to be able to protect myself from now on."  
  
"...why?"  
  
"What do you mean? We're going to war."  
  
"I mean... why did Atomsk choose you?" She paused, eyes watering. "Why us? Why Earth?"  
  
"Ni-"  
  
"Everything was back to normal! We could've gone on without anything else happening... and now..." She choked back what would've been a sob. "Unlike you, I had a -life-, Naota! And now I can't go back... everyone at school just stares at me, mumbling about the stupid aliens... they've ruined my LIFE!" By now she was actually crying, although her hands were still clenched in something more akin to frustration than anger. "...nothing's ever going to be normal again, is it...?"  
  
"...No." Naota shrugged. There was no reason to lie. "Even when this is over, people are going to remember. There's no one on Earth that hasn't heard about this."   
  
"And you're happy about this?!" She chucked the half-empty can at the wall, making a satisfying "DING".   
  
"No. If anything, I'm scared stiff. You've seen Atomsk's crest, right?" The strange six-pronged symbol glowed on his forehead as he spoke, casting a faint red-white light.  
  
"Well, duh, Naota. Everyone has."  
  
"You know what it is, don't you?"  
  
"...no..." Her voice had quieted to little more than a whisper.  
  
"Crosshairs." He managed a weak smile. "A reminder that no matter where I go, I'm a target. The heir of Atomsk... the Pirate King... and all of his vendettas." A long pause. "I don't know what's going to happen. And somehow... I can live with that. Come on, Eri. Your parents barely acknowledge your existence, everyone in town either thinks you're a prat because of your upbringing or a punk because you hang out with me, and I know that Tokyo U sent you a rejection letter last week." Ninamori's eyes popped open. How did - "There's nothing left for either of us there now. I'd rather face death and actually live on the way there than another lifetime of dying slowly in Mabase."  
  
"Then you're going through with it?"  
  
"How can't I?" She nodded softly.   
  
"...Then I'm staying too..."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"I'm only here because you are, Naota. I thought you had figured that out by now." Naota blinked.   
  
"...Really...?" She groaned.   
  
"Oh, jeez... Can I make this any more obvious?" She threw her arms around him, attacking him with what was probably the sloppiest hickey of his life.  
  
"HEY! STOP! CUT IT OUT! I'M NOT... heehee... NOt... heeeheee..." The kiss quickly turned into a tickle fight, one which he lost badly. And had an amazing time doing.  
  
(^)(^)(^)(^)(^)(^)(^)(^)(^)(^)(^)  
  
Mamimi stared at the ceiling. Her photos were coming along beautifully, but as always, something was horribly wrong.  
  
Kanchi.  
  
The crew had all but confined him to his room after the first time they saw him. She stared at her love, the strange robotty thing that had been her only friend for years, while the words of the pirates rang in her ears.  
  
"Get that thing out of here!"  
  
"Medical Mechanica scum... keep it away! You can't trust it as far as you can throw it!"  
  
"I've spent my life fighting these things. I ain't servin' beside one."  
  
She gently stroked the monitor that served as Kanchi's noggin, letting out a deep sigh. "It's okay. They'll get used to you..." He let out a noncommital 'beep'. There were some things that would just take time.  
  
TBC.. 


End file.
